ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) is unlikely to give possession of plots to the owners in D-12 Sector, as the contractor has stopped work owing to a steep rise in the prices of construction material.

“The contractor has completed only 60 percent of development work and a halt to the project would make it impossible for the authority to give the possession of plots to the owners by June 30,” a senior official of CDA confided to Daily Times on Tuesday.

The official said that the contractor was demanding an increase in the project cost due to high prices of building material including steel and cement. He said Kamran Lashari, the CDA chairman, had recently said that the owners of plots would get possessions by June 30. “But the current situation shows that the plots’ handover would be impossible by June 30,” he added.

D-12 Sector was launched in 2002 but the authority failed to starts development work till 2005. The sector spans 612 acres, out of which 260 acres has been reserved for 2,595 residential plots.

The official said that besides halt to development work in D-12, development work in I-14, I-15, I-16 and E-12 sectors was also hanging in the balance due to inefficiency of the authority’s relevant directorate. Though the authority has completed development work in G-13, it’s yet to connect it with gas, water and electricity mains.

The CDA officials said that suspension of development work in D-12 would exacerbate the problem of shortage of residential units in the capital. Owing to the housing problem, he said, people with monthly incomes of around Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 were finding it difficult to get a modest accommodation in the capital. The CDA needs to develop the already launched sectors before launching new sectors, he suggested.

Sector Development Director Hafiz Ehsan said that the authority had decided to increase the project cost and the contractor would complete the entire development work in December. He said the CDA board had decided in its last meeting to give relief to the contractor on purchase of three items: steel, cement and bitumen.